Computer technology is increasingly used in the travel industry to manage, support, book, reserve, and process travel reservations as well as data associated therewith. Generally, third party reservation agents (i.e., travel agents) or travelers book flights based on fare structures established by various airlines. The approaches used to calculate the fares charged by an airline may be complex, and it should be appreciated that a single flight may charge various passengers different prices for similar seats. For example, business travelers may be charged more for a particular flight than individuals who are traveling for pleasure on the same exact flight, since individuals traveling for pleasure tend to be more flexible about flight restrictions. Indeed, there are several considerations that travelers consider when booking flights such as, for example, the dates of travel, featured services, and the various sequences of flights between an origin and a destination.
In one approach to present various travel recommendations to reservation agents and travelers, flight information may be presented based on a calendar display. In this approach, the least expensive flight that departs each day is displayed for a range of dates. Alternatively, a travel board may be generated, which displays all of the available flights between a particular origin and destination for a specific day. Specifically, the travel board may list the least expensive price available for each flight, as well as other more expensive prices that correspond to different fare families for the same flight that may offer greater flexibility or amenities. A fare family is a group of fares having the same characteristics and amenities such as, for example, terms and conditions, meals, seating, possibility of date change, and cancellation fees.
In one particular approach, various fares may be presented using a travel board or a calendar display, and are grouped based on a one-way display mode. The one-way display lists departing or outbound flights separately from incoming or inbound flights. The fares and flights proposed for inbound flights are dependent on the fare and flight selected by the traveler for the outbound flight. As a result, all combinations of possible outbound and inbound flights need to be computed by the system. Although the one-way display offers many advantages, this approach also generates only a limited number of travel recommendations. Furthermore, an airline's inventory system may be polled multiple times to retrieve information to generate both the calendar and the travel board display.
In another approach, fares may be presented utilizing the travel board or the calendar display based on a one-way combinable mode. It should be appreciated that a fare marked as one-way combinable may be combined with another one-way combinable fare. In contrast, a fare marked as non-combinable may not be combined with some other fares. Furthermore, two or more one-way combinable fares may be used to create a round trip booking, or to create a one-way trip including multiple flight segments. When using the one-way combinable approach, the search for available flights may be segmented by either inbound or outbound flight. Specifically, a traveler may select his or her outbound flight independently from the inbound flight, which results in an increased number of travel recommendations that may be presented at one time to a traveler. This is because the system does not need to compute all of the possible combinations in advance. However, airlines need to adhere to strict filing guidelines in order to ensure that all of the travel recommendations presented to a traveler are combinable between inbound and outbound flights.
Thus, improved methods, systems, and computer program products for exchanging travel recommendations are needed that improve the efficiency of generating recommendations for an itinerary having multiple bounds.